For starters: Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder

February 14, 2013|By Ira Winderman, South Florida Sun Sentinel

OKLAHOMA CITY — A look at the starting lineups, inactives, referees and a pregame note of note for Thursday's 8 p.m. game between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder at Chesapeake Energy Arena (TNT), with Udonis Haslem out for the Heat:

Starting lineups

MIAMI HEAT (35-14)

Center: Chris Bosh

Power forward: Shane Battier

Small forward: LeBron James

Shooting guard: Dwyane Wade

Point guard: Mario Chalmers

Inactive: Udonis Haslem, Dexter Pittman.

OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER (39-13)

Center: Kendrick Perkins

Power forward: Serge Ibaka

Small forward: Kevin Durant

Shooting guard: Thabo Sefolosha

Point guard: Russell Westbrook

Inactive: Jeremy Lamb.

Referees: Danny Crawford, Sean Corbin, Kevin Fehr.

Pregame note of note: Catching the Thunder off Tuesday's 109-94 loss in Utah might be a bad thing for the Heat. Dating to the start of 2011-12, Oklahoma City has demonstrated a high level of resiliency in games played immediately after a loss. After the Thunder’s bounce-back win on Feb. 4 vs. Dallas, the Thunder improved to 11-1 in games played after a loss this season. The Thunder's .917 winning percentage in games played after a loss this season is tops in the NBA. Since the start of 2011-12, the Thunder are 26-4 in games played after a loss (also tops in the NBA).